We are now watching the Clinton coronation.
Last week, Vice President Joe Biden walked to a podium in the White House Rose Garden and through the crowd of reporters gathered before him, he informed the nation of what had become increasingly obvious with each passing day. He would not seek the presidency of the United States in 2016.
It was too late. The illness and then sudden death of his son Beau threw a wrench into his plans, and the unpredictable timetable of the mourning process pushed the potential start date for his campaign further and further back.
Just a month earlier, he stated on "The Late Night" with Stephen Colbert that he was not emotionally ready to spearhead a national campaign. He recalled an instance where he completely broke down in front of a crowd at just the mention of his son's name "and you can't do that,” he said.
Once he finished his remarks, the vice president walked away with his wife and President Obama by his side. The president placed a hand of the shoulder of his friend, the man who Washington had lovingly come to call the "happy warrior." He knew what we all knew. A chapter had closed. A dream had just died by the hand of circumstances that neither Joe Biden nor anyone else could hope to control.
For Hillary Clinton and her supporters, the news of Joe Biden bowing out of the race before his campaign even began should be met with a sense of elation. Hillary’s path to becoming the first woman to hold the office of the president was and is now as clear as it has ever been. However, for the rest of us, those of us who are hold nothing against Hillary yet are somewhat apprehensive of her campaign, the feeling was more akin to dread.
I am a Democrat, but I am not partisan beyond reason. I will not throw my full-throated support to a candidate simply because there is a large D next to their name on the ballot. Growing up in a conservative household allowed me a certain perspective on things. I am acutely aware of the deep seeded distrust many Americans feel towards the Clintons. For many, the first instinct whenever a single syllable comes from Hillary’s mouth is to question, to doubt. Whether that is reasonable or not does not matter. It is the state of things regardless.
My hope for a Biden campaign was the prospect of a legitimate challenge to the nomination of Hillary Clinton. While the odds of him winning were long, he at least would have offered up a good fight. He could have helped her too. With a monumental personality of his own he could have forced her hand brought out her own effervescent personality that we hear so much about yet never see. He could have made her more human, more relatable, less Claire Underwood.
Who will challenge her now? Who will bring out the realism that voters crave? Who will force her to bring forward that powerful personality she keeps under lock and key? To those questions some might offer Bernie Sanders as an answer. But that is unlikely. While it would make for incredible political history, no one other than his most ardent supporters believes that a Jewish socialist from Brooklyn could capture anything resembling a majority in the general election. His purpose is to drag Clinton to the left. And despite what Republicans might say, Democrats are not stupid. We know this.
Unless there is some sort of divine intervention and Martin O’Malley sees a dramatic rise in support, or Clinton herself endures the scandal to end all scandals, there is hardly any reason to doubt a Clinton nomination. Until the general, Democrats are not watching a Democratic nomination anymore. We’re witnessing a coronation.